Hi,
I'm building a scabbard and so far i've been learning leather working by messing things up so I thought I'd go get some advice for a change. I've finished the core and am about cover the thing with leather for the second time since I messed up the first one a bit. Does anybody here have experience with this?

• I What do you guys use to punch the sewing holes in the leather? I tried an awl and a spiked hole marker wheel but the holes ended up not quite matching which resulted in a crooked and messy seam. Should I be using a fork-chisel? It makes slits instead of holes but they are regularly spaced and easier to sew.
  
• Should I soak the leather or can I just sew it on while it is dry? It looks to me as if the only part I might have to soak and wet-form is the chape area.
  
• The first time I tried my hand at this the I made the leather about 10 cm longer than the scabbard and soaked it but it shrunk to the point where it was about 1 cm too short but there seemed to be little shrinkage breadth wise across the scabbard. Does it matter in terms of shrinkage whether you cut the leather strips head to tail or back to belly?
  

So far I've got the leather cut down perfectly so that the edges of the leather just barely touch down the entire back of the scabbard and plenty of material left over at the top but this time I'm going to be more careful.

Edit: There are no fancy raised decorations or lines on the scabbard, just a plain leather covering.

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Congrats on your scabbard, looks great so far.

Everyone has their own preferences as far as technique is concerned.

Never try something on your scabbard that you haven't practiced first on scraps. Your scabbard is not for experimentation and practice. Make a mock scabbard and try some different techniques until you are comfortable.

I use a pricker that marks holes every 3/16 to 1/4 inch and then I punch holes with a diamond shaped awl. I don't mark or punch the entire edge, I work in sections so that the holes stay aligned.

You can sew wet or dry, as you please.

Wet leather is a joy to work with, but it is very susceptible to scratches. Also you cannot use waxed thread because your fingers will transfer wax to the leather and then the leather won't dye properly. Most people seem to sew wet and they dye the leather, but on occasions you may have to dye first and then sew dry.

I never pay any attention to which direction I cut the leather, head to tail or back to belly, I don't see a difference.

Your rear seam cut looks damn near PERFECT :).

As others have said - work in sections (about 4" long). Mark a line on each edge about 1/8 inch US from each edge BACK. Run your stitching wheel down ONE SIDE. Punch your holes with an awl, but STAY ON THE LINE.

Don't use the wheel on the other side - instead, make a small mark on your line DIRECTLY OPPOSITE to the holes you just punched on the other side.

Stich. Do not stich the last set of holes. use these as an index point for you next run with the marking wheel.

FREE STUFF:

http://findlithui.deanandsandy.dyndns.org:808...ore1.1.pdf

Start looking around page 46.... :).

Sample?

[ Linked Image ]

[ Linked Image ]

That's an older one - as I've gotten a little better at "wiggling" my thread, adjusting tension, & checking alighnment as I go? I can now shine a laser down that line :). The only problem I have to work out these days - compensating for varying leather thickness on the two edges.

I've never had leather shrink more than a few millimeters. I always use vegetable-tanned tooling leather. What are you using?

I make a template from tinfoil and masking tape, wrapped around the scabbard. Cut that up the back and use it when marking out the leather. I allow an additional 3mm seam allowance and then, once I've stitched it, I trip off the excess and rub the seam flat (early medieval scabbard seams are serpentine, so this is perfectly authentic).

I stitch dry and then case the leather after stitching, to perform any moulding.

So far, so good.

Something that has worked quite well for me, especially with thinner leather and decoration under the leather, is to wet mould the leather to the scabbard and then make the seam at the back by pulling the leather up and clamping it with bulldog clips.

This allows you to adjust the seam as you go, exactly as described here.

If you let the leather dry and then stitch you also avoid the problem of misalignment and the tearing of wet leather.

it does leave a raised seam but with practice and some trimming, a small one.

cheers
mike

Let's talk about templates in general....

I rarely use them. Not for grips, or for scabbards.

Instead, I tend to glue leather, well oversized, DRY, sectionally (with tension) when wrapping a grip, or scabbard core.

Now, that approach may not be to everyone's taste, and may upset several as being "non-historical". I DO use exterior grade Wood glue when I do this - and all stitching really becomes a mostly decorative effort within the final 1/2", each side, of the leather.

Leather varies in thickness... no paper template is going to duplicate what leather does EXACTLY. Beyond Thickness? It varies in "flex", "spongeness", "body", and all the other stuff that is hard to define in quantitative terms.

So - for me? The best template for leather is the SAME LEATHER. It's just a matter of how I use it :). We ALWAYS have scrap....as I PAID for that scrap? I use it to death :).

Now, folks.... I get that my style of work is not something all of you like. That's fine - ignore the style, focus on the methods. Wrapping a scabbard, or grip, sectionally - with final cutting at the END of the process, actually works well.. Your final form does NOT need to look like MY final form :).

Mine often look like this.....

[ Linked Image ]

Please - steal this.... not the end all, be all. .It does, however, seem to work.... and can be used to produce a more historical piece, if you desire.

http://findlithui.deanandsandy.dyndns.org:808...ore1.1.pdf
"Leather Wrap a Scabbard Core"

Well I sewed the leather on dry which went rather well apart from a few misaligned stitches. The chisel worked great. There were a few bulges in the leather, especially at the cape end so I wet the whole thing down with a sponge without completely soaking the leather. This caused it to shrink a bit and the bulges went away. It also had the side effect of letting me slide the leather over the varnished surface of the wood core to straighten out most of the crooked seam sections. It's not a great seam but considering this is my first stab at building a scabbard I'm pretty happy.

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Good job!

I usually make my scabbard such that the chape is so tight that I have to tap it into place with a rubber mallet

Same with the locket